Four Steps to Success

When confronted with a difficult problem, take a step back—literally. That's what a study conducted at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands suggests. Thirty-eight volunteers took a test that presented words written in different colors. The goal was to identify the colors, not the words—a task that was especially tricky when a word related to color, such as "blue," appeared in a different-color type, such as red. As the volunteers stood by computers for the test, they were told to take four steps away in various directions. Remarkably, their performance on the test was significantly faster after they took the steps backward, compared with forward or sideways, says psychologist Severine Koch, who headed the study. She explains that because backing away "is usually performed in dangerous or problematic situations," doing so apparently tends to prompt the brain to concentrate in order to meet a challenge. This experiment corroborates a study that the researchers published in 2008, which found that extending one's arm as if warding something off enhanced cognition compared with flexing the arm in a beckoning position.